Giant pumpkins get flatter and flatter as they expand in size. Gravity just weighs them down, Hu explains. Pumpkins end up squashed under their own weight. And if they grow large enough, they will even grow a small arch underneath. Small pumpkins can support up to 50 times their own weight without breaking, Hu says. By taking giant pumpkin samples and squashing normal-sized pumpkins to see how much weight they could take, Hu came up with a model for how a giant pumpkin spreads as it grows.
One big enough for Cinderella, he says, would never be a good vehicle. Even if growers were to double the current weight of giant pumpkins, those fruits would just get flat. But while a pumpkin carriage might not be a realistic way to travel, Savage notes that Cinderella might have had other options. Giant pumpkins, after all, can be hollowed out to make pretty good canoes. By Bethany Brookshire October 28, at am.
Jessica Savage holds a hunk of a giant pumpkin. She studied the huge fruits to find out how they got so big. Dustin Haines. In this model, Hu and his colleagues showed how a pumpkin is expected to collapse and flatten as it gets bigger. Animals What biologists call a species is becoming more than just a name By Jack J. Lee October 14, New York. Eva Kis 0. About the Author. Without HHA? Montrose Surveying Co. Sports Top 25 roundup: No. News Tunisian protesters try to march on suspended parliament Israel denies espionage charge against couple arrested in Turkey China regulator proposes cybersecurity review for some Hong Kong IPOs Polish police say group of 50 migrants broke through Belarus border Kuwait emir accepts govt resignation — state news agency.
Sign up for our daily newsflashes Subscribe. More from our Sister Sites. Gay City News. As far as genetics go, Lippman said the DNA of squash is not unique compared to other squash or plants generally. They found that the pumpkin's genome is a combination of two ancient genomes from 3 to 20 million years ago, which make it a paleotetraploid — meaning it has four copies of each chromosome.
However, pumpkin is considered a diploid today, which means it only has two copies of each chromosome. Lippman said that when it comes to squash varieties, of which there are hundreds, their chromosomes and DNA content are similar enough to allow for them to be interbred.
Interestingly, growing a one-ton fruit or larger is not a feat genetically limited to pumpkins. Perhaps that is where nurture comes in for the giant pumpkins. Lippman said the giant ones can grow 30 pounds per day or more during peak growth, if the grower puts in the proper time and labor necessary to keep the pumpkin happy.
He also believes in having conversations with them. How are you doing? Nicole Karlis is a staff writer at Salon. Tweet her nicolekarlis.
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